


Masks

by anonony



Series: Seducing A Hot Alien Prince 101 [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftercare, Alien Sex, Angst, Biting, Handcuffs, Ignored Safeword, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Porn With Plot, Rough Sex, Safeword Use, Spanking, Wall Sex, for just a second
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:15:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonony/pseuds/anonony
Summary: When old associates of Lotor come to visit, it affects his and Lance's relationship.





	Masks

**Author's Note:**

> watch the writer who normally writes Klance try to not make this klance. Or at least not romantic klance. 
> 
> Anyway, yeah, so, why am i updating this instead of the other bajillion projects i need to work on? Oh, right, it's cause y'all are amazing and your comments keep inspiring me about what'll happen next and gahhh here we are.

It started with a question.

“What is HE doing here?” 

The room instantly tensed, eyes flickering to Lotor. Lotor simply smiled at his accusers and said, “Well, if it isn’t my old associates. It’s so nice to see you again.”

Zethrid bared her teeth at him, while Ezor and Acxa narrowed their eyes, Acxa’s hand inching toward her guns.

Lance was learning, slowly learning to read Lotor, and so he knew behind his mask of calm and ease, he was tense and ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Trying to remain subtle, Lance started to ease his way towards him, whether to hold him back or protect him remained to be seen. 

As he looked around, he saw most of his fellow teammates were in fact doing the opposite, easing their way toward the trio. It could have just been because there were more of them, therefore more people to get in the middle of, but it oddly felt like they were ganging up on Lotor, and by extension, Lance. 

Shiro and Coran stood in the middle, pillars of peace. “Everyone at ease,” Shiro said, military training coming through, “Lotor has been helping the coalition by identifying high-level Galra targets. The question is, what are you three doing here?” He asked. 

“They’re members of the Blade now,” Keith said, standing beside them. He had just returned from one of his missions with the Blade, and was the one who had brought their unexpected guests. “They joined shortly after Naxzela.” 

“Well, then.” Lotor said, in his disarming voice, “Seems to me like we’re all on the same side.”

“We are NOT on the same side,” Zethrid said, taking a step forward, fists balled “Not anymore!”

“Now wait a minute,” Shiro said, “Everyone just hold on, here.”

“Tell them what you told me,” Keith said to Acxa.

Acxa did not answer. Instead she seemed to be in a strange staring contest with Lotor. It was as though a silent battle was raging right there on the palace floor, but no one else could see. 

Instead, Ezor cleared her throat. “He killed Narti,” She said. Her voice was steady, but unlike with Lotor they could see the effort she put into it. “The other general who fought beside us. He killed her in cold blood the moment she became an inconvenience for him.” 

Lance’s eyes, along with everyone else’s, turned to Lotor. While everyone else saw him maintain his calm demeanor, his simple smile, Lance prided himself on being able to read a bit more, and so could see something behind his eyes. It was…upset. Maybe anger, maybe sadness…but neither adjective quite fit. Instead it was more like pain. Lance had never seen that in him before. 

Finally, Lotor opened his mouth, although a breath passed before he actually spoke. “We all did things on the side of the empire. Things I’m sure would make the paladins here horrified. But it seems, no matter how we got here, we all have decided to put those things in the past, where they no doubt belong.”

Zethrid snarled, “Narti is not someone you can just put in the past you—“

“Zethrid!” Acxa cut her off, holding her arm. “We can hate him all we want, but what happens to him now is no longer our decision.” She turned calmly to Princess Allura, “We’ve told you our reasons for mistrusting him, you no doubt have plenty of your own. He is your responsibility now.” Her glare turned back to Lotor, “But we will play no part in working alongside him.” 

Allura bit her lip. It had never been a secret she hated having Lotor on board, and had indeed been looking for an excuse to get rid of him. Now an excuse had dropped into her lap, and she had to decide if she wanted to use it. 

“The blade works alongside Voltron,” Lance piped up, “And Lotor’s been extremely useful to the coalition so far. More so than you’ve been.”

Acxa’s sharp eyes turned onto Lance, and he had the distinct impression he was being scanned. Her eyebrows raised just slightly looking at him. Whatever she was looking for, she found it. “Well. The Prince has always managed to make himself…useful to people.” Her eyes flickered to Lotor once again. “Usually to those people he uses in turn. Sometimes without them knowing it.”

Lance went cold. For some reason he got the feeling that Acxa was able to read his exact relationship with Lotor. That was ridiculous of course, there was no way…right?

He turned to Lotor who was looking at him as well. The pain in his eyes had not died down, even though the mask stayed resolute. He finally turned back to Acxa. “The Voltron Coalition is built on mutual benefit. That is all I offer.” 

Again, Lance had the distinct impression that the conversation had turned away from the coalition into something more personal. 

Acxa turned back to Allura. “Princess, I appreciate your hospitality, but I think it would be better for the three of us to return to the Blade.” To Keith she said, “I’ll leave you a pod for if you want to stay longer.” Keith nodded. 

“Then, I suppose this is goodbye,” Lotor said to them. He politely bowed his head and turned on his heel. 

Allura waited in silence as his footsteps retreated down the hall. Once they were gone, she said, “I want all the information you have on him.” 

Ezor and Zethrid quickly nodded, and a group gathered around Pidge’s computer, the team’s usual place for storing and recording data. Lance was reluctant, but he went as well. He was convinced that nothing they could tell him was something that would be overly surprising or terrible. Even if he was shrouded in mystery, they all knew who and what Lotor was, and Lance was ready to put it in the past, just as Lotor had said. 

The only people who didn’t join in the sharing of information was Acxa and Keith. The two of them seemed to have a whispered argument off to the side. Lance watched him, and by the way Keith’s gaze kept flickering over to him, he had a feeling about what this was about. 

Lance was right, while they did get minorly more information, Lotor seemed just as willing to share his past with his generals as he did with Voltron, which was very little. Allura seemed almost disappointed with the news, while Lance felt oddly protective of the Prince. No one else seemed to want to take his side, so he figured someone should.

He put aside his own misgivings about Lotor, at least this once. 

After the ex-generals left, the team was eager to spend some time with Keith while he was around. Movie night was officially established, along with a number of group hugs Keith was a bit too awkward to fully appreciate, but tried to make it evident he didn’t dislike. 

Lance managed several cutting jabs at Keith, but none malicious anymore. Keith, however, kept looking at him strangely.

Matt ended up falling asleep on the couch, and so Shiro and Pidge awkwardly lugged him down to his room. Allura and Coran were not far behind them. The three remaining made it to the end of the movie, and Hunk got busy putting away the snacks left out. Lance was just about to head to his own room, when Keith stopped him, “Hang on, just a minute,” He said, the small crease in his brow showing Lance he was thinking something hard. If Lotor was hard to read, Keith was an open book. He was quiet, not subtle. 

“What’s up, mullet boy?” Lance asked, stretching his tired muscles. 

“It’s…” he said, “It’s something Acxa said to me.” Lance’s heart dropped. Okay, they were going there. “She said something…bad. About you.”

Lance bit the inside of his mouth. “Was it about how I could totally take her in a shooting match? Because that’s not bad, that’s true.”

“Lance.” Keith said, exasperated. “No, she said…Well, I mean, it wasn’t exactly about you…”

“Was it or wasn’t it?” Lance asked, a little impatient. He did not enjoy discussing his business with the other paladins, and did not think he would enjoy this either. 

“She said…she said you were Lotor’s…type.” Keith winced at his own words. “It was something about how when they wanted to make allies or something, to really get a group to like them, Lotor often like…went for one of the younger, friendlier members and like…tried to get them in his good graces. Often by some…extreme means.”

Like seducing them? Lance thought. His blood ran cold. It’s not like he hadn’t suspected something like this, but hearing about it in other situations hurt. 

For once in his life, though, Lance was silent. Keith wasn’t expecting that, so he cleared his throat. “Anyway. I thought I’d tell you, so you could, you know. Keep an eye out. In case he tries something.”

Lance knew what he should have said. He should have just said ‘thanks I’ll make sure to do that’ and run off to his own room. Keith wasn’t the best at reading people and Lance was pretty sure he could fool him. 

Instead, of course, Lance felt a weird sort of electricity and defensiveness running through him, both in defense of himself and Lotor. “Well, if your new best friend says it, it MUST be true.” He made sure to let all of his irritation and sarcasm leak through into his words.

Keith blinked confused. “What? What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying if Lotor’s so distrustworthy, you’re new sisters in the Blade are too. So I don’t really see what right they have going into my business.”

Keith let out a half laugh, half cough in disbelief. “Didn’t you hear what they said about him?”

“I already know he was on the side of the empire, Keith. We all do.” Lance could feel his own irrational anger growing, “But he switched sides, same as those generals. He saved your life! Is this how you thank him?”

Alright, he regretted that one, especially as Keith actually backed up a step in hurt. “I—“ he started, “I’m trying to HELP you. He’s dangerous, you don’t—“

“I can look after myself, thanks,” Lance muttered, “Why does everyone think I’m some stupid kid?!”

“Maybe because you HAVE been stupid,” Keith said, finally spitting back, “Because you’ve been fooled before and you almost brought the team down because of it!” 

Something snapped inside Lance, “Well at least I didn’t ABANDON the team!”

Keith recoiled, fully closing himself off in the shell that had taken the team so hard and long to break through. His mouth set, and he turned to march down the hall. “Wait,” Lance called after him, swallowing his pride. “Wait, I…I’m sorry. I took it too far.”

Keith paused. He turned his head, not to look at Lance, but to make it easier for Lance to hear. “You ARE sleeping with him, aren’t you?”

Lance didn’t say anything, giving Keith all the answer he needed. “You know what else Acxa told me?” he asked, “She said that general, Narti, knew Lotor the longest of all of them. She was closer to him than anyone in the whole universe, closer than family. And he didn’t even hesitate to strike her down. Do you really think he’d give his fucktoy more courtesy?”

Lance froze at those words, allowing Keith to walk away. 

His words rattled around in Lance’s mind as he made his way back to his room. He kept going over and over them, thinking things through and starting to put a couple of things together, most especially Lotor’s strange behavior when talking with Acxa and the others.

When he reached his room, though, he found his communicator that he had left in there blinking. He hadn’t thought to take it with him as anyone who’d want to communicate with him was on the ship, but he picked it up anyway, looking. There were several missed messages from un unknown source, the latest one only a few minutes ago.

Now the smart thing was to report someone as it could be a signal from some dangerous alien, but he had a feeling he knew the dangerous alien it was from. “Lotor? You’re still awake?”

“Ah, there you are,” the voice answered on the other end, “Come down.”

“Lotor…I don’t know…” Lance said. “It’s late, and…that was kinda intense today.”

“I have something prepared for you,” Lotor said, ignoring Lance’s comment, “It’ll be fine.”

The communication cut out, and Lance sighed. He probably shouldn’t go…Keith’s words were still nagging at the back of his mind. Reluctantly, he made his way down to the other end of the castle, where Lotor’s room stayed isolated from the rest of them. 

Inside, Lotor grinned at him. “Considering we didn’t get the chance to use the handcuffs for their actual purpose last time, I thought we could use them for what I bought them for.” He motioned to where Lotor had affixed handcuffs on the wall, at a height that would have involved Lance be stretched out completely, hands over his head. “You up for it?”

“Uh…” Lance bit his lip. It wasn’t that he was against this use, really, he was flexible both mentally and physically and up for nearly anything. It was just… “Are you…do you want to talk? Maybe?”

Lotor’s smile slipped just slightly, so slightly Lance might have missed it. The pain in his eyes was still there. He took just a moment to recompose himself, “I have nothing I wish to discuss.”

Lance bit his lip, “Look…Keith said something to me, that—“

“If you want to discuss what Keith said, I suggest you go and speak with Keith,” Lotor cut him off. “If you’d like to stay here, though, then you can either get in the cuffs or suggest something else that involves my dick inside you.”

Lance flinched a bit. Lotor was being unusually harsh, but Lance had been stressed out as it was himself, so he couldn’t really blame him. “Fine but just…can we talk afterwards? Please?”

Lotor did not seem to like that idea, but all he said was, “…Fine. If you’re still up for talking after, we can talk.”

Lance relented as Lotor grabbed him, slamming him against the wall and bending down to press his lips against him. “Mmmm, good kit,” Lotor said, massaging his hands under Lance’s shirt to take it off. From the look in his eye, Lance almost thought Lotor would have just ripped it off his body.

The way Lotor looked at him sent shivers across Lance’s skin. Lotor guided his hands over Lance’s chest, up to his shoulders and down his arms. Holding his hands, he brought them each to his mouth, laying a kiss on his knuckles. He closed his eyes, as though losing himself in just the simple act of intimacy.

Lance still watched his face, trying to read him. Lotor was engrossing himself in the pleasure of what they were doing, but he was clearly pushing something else aside. 

He lifted Lance’s hands above his head, attaching them to the handcuffs above his head. He slid his hands all the way down to Lance’s hips, drinking in his body with his eyes. He dug his fingers into his waist, diving in to clash their mouths. 

Lance had never fully appreciated before exactly how dangerous Lotor’s fangs were before now, as he bit on his lower lip. Lotor managed to jam his tongue down his throat before pulling back and biting down his neck as his claws pulled down his jeans and underwear in one sweep. 

Lance’s concern was distracting him from getting fully hard yet, but Lotor was working hard to get him back. His hands moved up Lance’s legs, squeezing the base of his dick and tugging slowly until his claws reached the tip, digging lightly into his slit. Lance gasped. 

Lotor massaged his other hand up Lance’s chest again, this time landing on Lance’s nipple, twisting slightly. Lance squeaked, whimpering in pain.

Lotor’s smiled, enjoying the reaction. He pulled his own pants down, letting his cock spring free, and lifted up Lance’s legs by the thighs, so his only support was his hanging wrists, but Lotor quickly supported him, holding up his legs and pressing his back against the wall.

Lotor growled low in his chest, squeezing Lance’s ass tightly. Lance shook in his arms, almost frightened at the lack of control he had “That’s it,” Lotor said, lining up, “Yes, you are…so…delightful…”

Lance had questions about his word choice, but those questions were put out of his mind as Lotor thrust in him all at once. “AH!” Lance shouted, wrapping his legs around Lotor just to get a hold on something as Lotor slammed in again. “Ah oh god, ah,” He swallowed trying to get a hold on himself, “Lotor…ah,”

Lotor was not going easy on Lance tonight. He was used to Lotor deciding to be a bit rough, but nothing quite like this before. Lance moaned and whined over and over, his face scrunched up in pain. Usually he was a bit more prepared than this and Lotor not usually this forward. Lance thanked his lucky stars Lotor’s dick was self lubricating, which at least helped a bit.

“Lotor,” Lance begged, “Lotor, please, slow down.”

“No,” Lotor growled, nipping at Lance’s ear, and in fact picking up his pace. 

“AHH!” Lance cried out, his back slamming against the wall with every thrust. “Lotor…oh god…oh god please, you’re hurting—“

“I thought you liked pain, Kit,” Lotor snarled in his ear, “Bit of pain with your pleasure. 

Lance couldn’t respond, grunting and whimpering, and for a couple of painful thrusts, let out small screams of pain. 

At some point he’d started tearing up. He looked up into Lotor’s face through the blurry tears, and what he saw shocked him more than anything had that night. The smile on his face was gone, and there was no more pain behind his eyes, nor his usual calculating humor. There was just…nothing.

Lance swallowed and opened his mouth, “S..” he murmured as Lotor pounded into him over and over, “Sa—Afeword! Safeword!” he all but shouted. 

Lotor blinked, confused, as though he didn’t understand what Lance was saying. Still, he continued as though nothing had changed. “Lotor! Safeword!” 

Lotor pulled out and backed away from Lance like he’d been burned. Lance’s legs fell hard on the ground, his heels getting a slight burn sliding on the ground, and his wrists screaming in pain at suddenly being forced to hold his body weight. 

Lotor was turned completely away from him. Lance saw him picking up his pants to tuck himself back in. “L-Lotor. Cuffs.”

Like an electric prod, his words spurred Lotor into action, turning back around to undo the cuffs. Lance watched his face. The dark-emptiness was gone, and the pain had returned again. 

The second the handcuffs were released Lotor turned back around, keeping his face away from Lance’s prying eyes. Lance massaged his aching wrists. “So, looks like we really don’t have luck with handcuffs, huh?” he said. 

Lotor said nothing, staying turned, frozen. “Hey,” Lance said, reaching out for his shoulder, “hey, what’s—“

Lotor jumped at Lance’s touch, turning back to him and trying to keep himself composed. “I…apologize for losing control like that,” Lotor said, “You…you can go, now.”

Lance thought about it, but ultimately stayed put, gently taking hold of Lotor’s arm again. “I’m worried about you.”

Lotor scoffed. “I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity, it’s worry,” Lance said, stubbornly trying to get eye contact even when Lotor was looking away. “Look…You can pretend to do the whole…detached mildly amused by everything around you THING with everyone else, but not me.”

“You?” Lotor’s face changed as he finally looked Lance in his eyes. This time it was the mask that was hard and cold, while the eyes behind them maintained the pain that he refused to say. “And what makes you think you’re special?”

Lance flinched at the words. They were words meant to hurt, and they worked. “I…” Lance said, “I know you.”

Lotor sneered. “Why? Because I took you into my bed?” He asked, “Do you know how many others have had the same privilege?”

Lance steadied himself. “It doesn’t matter,” He told Lotor and himself, “You’re here with me, now.”

“I’m trapped with you,” Lotor said, “On this forsaken castle where my options are limited and you’re the only one malleable enough for me to use.”

Lotor pushed him off and headed for his bathroom. 

Lance had been hurt, really hurt, a rather lot of times in his life. Most of the time he would head to his room and cry it out, but sometimes…sometimes he had to have a little confrontation first. “Hey!” Lance shouted at him, trailing after him. “Malleable? Seriously? Is that what you think?” 

Lotor ignored him, in favor of dunking his head into the sink and splashing water on his face. 

“What exactly do you think is happening between us?” Lance asked, “You think what Keith thinks? What Acxa and Hunk and Pidge and Matt think? That I’m some weakling you seduced with your giant alien dick so you could have your terrible way with me?”

“Don’t ask questions you aren’t ready for the answer for,” Lotor said, lifting his head to dry himself off. 

“Let me tell you what actually is happening.” Lance said, “Long before I met you I was already a bisexual masochistic mess. You came to me offering sex, I accepted. Then I came to you, and you accepted. That’s not manipulation, that’s an agreement between two people. And you know what, yeah, I like pain, on occasion. But more than that, I like to let go for a little bit because being in space and away from everything I know and fighting an entire fucking empire of aliens is really fucking stressful.” 

Lance could feel himself tearing up a bit. Don’t cry, don’t cry, he thought to himself, get through the argument without crying. Lotor had put his towel down, and now just stared into it, letting Lance’s words wash over him. “And guess what, I DO know you. I know you’re a control freak to the extreme. I know you like being clean and well manicured so much the thought of being covered in sweat or cum or whatever else for even a few minutes disgusts you so you come and jump in here to clean up. I know you like giving orders and you like when people follow them. I know that even when you do seem to lose control, you’re still measured, even if you don’t realize it.”

Lotor’s jaw was clenched as he still refused to look up. Lance risked taking a step forward, letting his hand rest on Lotor’s. “And that’s why we make such a good match. And that’s why I know the fact that you losing control tonight? That means you’re really upset.” Lotor didn’t respond other than to shift his gaze from the face towel to their joined hands. “It’s about Narti, isn’t it?”

Lotor tensed up, the pain behind his mask cracking through. “Keith said that Acxa said you were close.”

“Don’t,” Lotor said, his hand curling into a fist beneath Lance’s palm, “Just…just leave.”

Lance joined his other hand on Lotor’s, “Look, I don’t know what happened, but it’s clearly hurting you,” He rubbed circles into the back of Lotor’s hand with his thumb, “Let me help.”

Lotor shakes his head.

Lance sighs. “You don’t have to talk. Not now, anyway. Hell, if you just want to fuck your feelings out, fine, we can do that.” He lifts his hand to touch Lotor’s cheek, gently turning his face to his own. “But if you pull that shit with ignoring the safeword again, I’m marching out of this room, clothes or not and heading straight to Allura’s room to tell her what happened.” There it was, that twinge of regret on Lotor’s face. “I need to trust you, Lotor. Don’t make me regret it.”

It took ages, it felt like, for Lotor to relax his hand, to turn it and hold both of Lance’s in just his palm. He took a deep shaky breath, and finally said, “I…apologize again, then.” He said. “For…a lot of things.”

This time Lance felt like he could say in all honesty, “I forgive you.” He squeezed Lotor’s hand. “What do you need?”

Lotor took several long breaths. Lance waited, patiently. “I…want to fuck you.”

Lance nodded, he was ready for that. “Okay. What else?”

“I want it right here,” Lotor said, finally turning his body to face Lance. Lance forgot sometimes exactly how tall he was. He took Lance’s shoulder and lightly pushed him to the door.

Lance stood still, resisting the push. “Not…not on the wall. Door. Whatever.” Lance said, eyeing it, “I just. Not tonight, alright?”

Lotor nodded. “Then…the sink?” 

“Sure,” Lance said, jumping up to sit on the sink. It didn’t really give him much more height, but he put his hands around Lotor’s neck, “What else?”

“I want to hit you,” Lotor said, his voice laced with a mixture of desire and shame. “I want…I want you to cry.”

Lance nodded. He sometimes needed to cry, it made sense for Lotor to have the opposite need. He pulled Lotor’s hands to sit below his waist, in the nebulous area of hips, thighs, and ass. “Right here. You can hit me here.” Lotor nodded in agreement. “Okay then. Come on.” He spread his legs, the most obvious invitation he could think of.

Lotor took it, being far more gentle than he had earlier in the night. “It’s okay,” Lance reassured him, “Just, uh…”

He reached forward, pulling Lotor’s shirt up over his head and dropping it on the bathroom floor. Lotor was still moving hesitantly. “I’m okay,” Lance said, pulling him in, “I’m okay, I promise,” He pulled Lotor in for a kiss.

Lotor paused for only a moment, before kissing back with a force Lance had never seen before. Except…force was the wrong word, it was a…a passion. A desire for him and only him. Lance moaned beneath him as Lotor’s hands grabbed him, not digging in like before, and not possessive, but appreciative and admiring. 

Lotor removed his hands from Lance only a moment to pull off his pants, kicking them away so they could make out, both fully naked. “Lance,” Lotor said into Lance’s mouth, “Lance, Lance.”

“Mm, Lotor,” Lance said, wrapping his legs around Lotor’s waist again, “Ahh, Lotor,”

Lotor held him like he was cherished lining up once again, and slowly working him open this time. “Ahh,” Lance said, resting his head on Lotor’s chest, “Ah, yes! Yes!”

Lotor’s hands were removed a second time, only to come down as a slap on Lance’s ass. Lance gasped, holding onto him tightly. Lotor did it again and Lance whined. “Are you…” Lotor started, his own breath halting.

“I’m fine,” Lance said, gasping, “Keep going.” 

The hits started to sting, but it was offset by the good feeling of Lotor inside him. “Mmm,” Lance said holding him “Yes,” Lance murmured, even as Lotor continued hitting him. “Yes!” He winced feeling tears form in his eyes once again, this time made of pain and pleasure. 

Lotor nuzzled Lance’s hair, leaving gentle kisses behind even as he hit him over and over. “You’re so beautiful…” Lotor murmured to him. “So amazing…I want….”

He trailed off, holding him, “What?” Lance asked, eyes lidded.

“I want…” he said, “I want…to bite you.”

Lance nodded, “Okay.”

Lotor bends down, nuzzling his face into the crook of Lance’s neck before biting down on the skin there. 

Lance whined out again at the pain as Lotor’s sharp teeth pierced his skin. He thrust deeper inside of him, the prehensile dick attacking his prostate. 

Lotor grunted and as Lance felt a rush of cum run through him. Lance cried out at the feeling, tears running down his face. Lotor stopped hitting him to instead jerk him off until he was cumming too, spilling onto Lotor’s stomach. 

It wasn’t so much that the time froze. That would be too sudden. In that blissful aftermath where neither of them moved, the universe slowed, and shrank, until there was nothing and no one left but the two of them, and even the hard sink counter was a comfortable haven. 

Lotor rested his head on Lance’s, his hands cradling Lance’s face as he gently massaged his cheek. His hands slid down to the bite left on Lance’s neck. “Sorry,” He said softly. Lance smiled to himself at the word ‘sorry’ instead of ‘I apologize.’ It sounded so casual for Lotor, but then again, his usual rigid formality would feel out of place here. “I have some healing gel.” 

Lance nodded slowly as the two of them woke up from their perfect bubble. Lotor pulled out of Lance, cum dripping out of his hole as he quietly went looking for the gel.

While Lotor busied himself with that, Lance slipped off the sink and started running the bath. The sudden sound of running water surprised them both, making them jump. Lance couldn’t help but laugh at it, breaking the somber atmosphere but not the intimacy. 

The two of them got into the tub in their favorite position, Lance straddling Lotor chest to chest. Lotor rubbed a small cube of gel over the bite wound, while Lance washed Lavasee oil into Lotor’s hair. “You don’t have to…” Lotor said. 

“I know,” Lance said, wincing as the gel passed over his open wound, quickly closing it, “But I want to.”

Loor was silent, focused on his task of healing. “Why?”

Lance smiled at him. “Because you’re my friend. I care about you.”

Lotor blinked up at him, his face unreadable even to Lance. He liked to imagine that Lotor was pleased. “I’ve never had a friend before.”

Lance bit his lip, not wanting to disrupt the gentle atmosphere they’d procured, but too curious and too worried for his own good he said, “Narti wasn’t…”

“She was my general,” Lotor said curtly. His face was hard again, but not angry and not cruel. Just hard. “She was…a loyal companion. A soldier worthy of the highest trust. And in some ways…some, strange way…she was like a sister to me. But not a friend.” He looked deep into Lance’s eyes. “I had to do what I did. I did not have a choice.”

Lance nodded. “I believe you.”

“The witch forced my hand,” He said, “and though I acted quickly, it wasn’t an easy—“

“Lotor,” Lance said, “I believe you. I choose to believe you over Acxa any day. I trust you.”

Lotor did no quite smile, but his face eased. He put the cube down into the water, letting the gel dissolve, and kissed Lance, slowly, almost lazily. Lance relaxed against him, enjoying the gentle tiring of his lips against Lotor’s.

The exchanged more gentle kisses until they got back out, silently re-dressing. “Lance…” Lotor said, still quietly, holding onto his hand.

“Yes?” Lance asked, confused and ready to head back to his room. 

Lotor hesitated, and Lance could practically see the words on the tip of his tongue. 

Lance held his hand in turn, “It’s not weak to want something,” He said, “Just ask.”

Lotor nodded, thinking. “Will you stay?”

Lance can’t say he expected that, but this time it was him putting on a mask, to not let his shock show. “Sure,” he said. It was ridiculously late and he was tired anyway. 

Lotor lent Lance a pair of pajamas to wear. The bed was clean as they hadn’t used it. The moment Lance got under the sheets with him, Lotor pulled him close. “Goodnight,” Lance said. 

Lotor hummed, already slipping off into sleep. 

Lance watched him as his breathing slowed and became steady. His mask that he always wore to hide himself dissipated completely, and Lance finally got to see him underneath all the bravado, all the glamour and the self-assuredness suddenly gone, leaving someone who was simply…at peace.

Lance bit his lip looking at him, and wondered if this whole arrangement they had still qualified as ‘fuck buddies.’

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah, like i said i do have some real-world writing i need to do so this won't be updated AS fast, but i've got some ideas for the next one. Don't you worry.


End file.
